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AGM & Board meeting

Hope to see you at this year’s AGM Wednesday November 14, 2018 from 6-7:30 at St George’s 415 Piccadilly. Our finance whiz Hayley will briefly present last year’s actuals; we will talk about the upcoming events and plans including the Ghana 2020 trip, and we will vote in a special group of volunteers: this year’s Board of Directors. Read their bios below!

List of Board Members 2018-19, in order of photo L-R.

Cathy Sandiford has been connected with the Baobab community since 2007, mother of a Baobab youth member who was part of the 2011 Ghana trip. A board member since 2016, Cathy’s connection to Africa began early, with a grade three public speaking project, her first (!), on the subject of Africa. She has traveled to Malawi and Ethiopia, loves African rhythms and dance and is a fanatic for African fabrics. Cathy currently works on organizational development projects at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Dalton Holloway was part of Baobab Youth Performers during his high school years and was on Baobab’s first trip to Ghana in 2001. This is Dalton’s second year on the Board and enjoys being able to play a part in shaping the organization. He also randomly drops in on the Youth practices on Wednesdays to share insights and to hang out with the newest generation of Gahu players. Dalton currently works in the Westboro area as an account manager for a creative agency.

David Hennessy is in his first year as a board member. An alumnus of Baobab Youth Performers from 1998 to 2001, he was on the first Ghana trip in 2001 and a youth chaperone on the 2017 Ghana trip. In the 2017-18 season, David worked with Kathy Armstrong in the Roots program and the monthly adult drumming program. He continues to work with Baobab Youth performers and helps facilitate the monthly adult classes. David has studied percussion with master drummer Kwasi Dunyo, Mike Essoudry, Alvaro de M. Yanez, Jeff Asselin and, of course, Kathy Armstrong. David currently works in the Biotech sector assisting doctoral students and post-docs with their research related to targeted genome therapy.

Nadine Powers is a former member of the Baobab adult performing group Akpokli and has traveled to Ghana several times. She has been on the board for 8 years. Her role as a teacher in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board has enabled her to be a strong voice and connector in that community as the Education Representative for the Baobab Board.

Kerry Gogush-Cule has been a board member since 2013. As an educator and a parent, she has dual roles on the board and was fortunate enough to accompany the Baobab Youth to Ghana in 2017, where she oversaw the group’s blog. Kerry is frequently asked for her awesome tech skills in designing our surveys and documents

Evie Gray is the current Baobab Chair for the past for three years, having previously been its Community Representative for five years. As an active parent from 2005 to 2012, one of the many highlights were the Baobab trips such at Ghana 2011 and Banff 2008. Evie was the CIO at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research at the time of her retirement in 2015.